Interview

Brazil: an obstacle course for prisoners' families in the pandemic

Maria Teresa dos Santos is the chair of the Associação de Amigos e Familiares de Pessoas em Privação de Liberdade (Association of friends and family members of people in Ddeprivedation of Lliberty) in the state of Minas Gerais. Prison Insider has interviewed Maria Teresa her in September 2020.


ICPR and Prison Insider asked several experts worldwide to share their insights in the framework of the project Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in 10 countries. Read Maria Teresa dos Santos’s insights.

- Leia essa entrevista em português aqui.

Prisoners say they are fine, but we can tell from their voices that they are not

The suspension of visits led to disorder, met by extreme aggression against prisoners by agents of the rapid intervention unit brought in to restore order

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Maria Teresa dos Santos

Association of friends and family members of people deprived of liberty) in the state of Minas Gerais.

Maria Teresa dos Santos is the chair of the Associação de Amigos e Familiares de Pessoas em Privação de Liberdade (Association of friends and family members of people deprived of liberty) in the state of Minas Gerais. Two of her sons have experienced detention. One of them was transferred to house arrest due to Covid-19 (under Recommendation 62 of the National Council of Justice). Maria Teresa also advocates for the Frente Estadual pelo Desencarceramento (State Front for decarceration) in Minas Gerais.

About the project

Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in ten countries

This comparative research and policy project is led by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), based at Birkbeck, University of London. To understand the causes and consequences of over-incarceration worldwide, ICPR has worked with a large network of NGOs, academic researchers and practitioners spanning this diverse selection of countries. ICPR partnered with Prison Insider in the latter stages of the project to shed light on aspects of prisoners’ lived experience in custody before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project team collaborated to gather national experts’ insights, and to facilitate a continuing global conversation around the key research findings.
The project focuses on five main themes that can be found in the drop-down menu.
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